Ibrahim Y, Qureshi A, Jackson M, Zovich B, Freeland C, Flomo M, Alik K, Yakubov R, Chen LH, Yeboah PK, Cohen C. Why does hepatitis B remain underprioritized? A view through lived experience. World J Methodol 2026; 16(2): 114604 [DOI: 10.5662/wjm.v16.i2.114604]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Yasmin Ibrahim, MD, Associate Professor, Director, Principal Investigator, Senior Researcher, Hepatitis B Foundation, 3805 Old Easton Road, Doylestown, PA 18902, United States. yasmin.ibrahim@hepb.org
Research Domain of This Article
Health Policy & Services
Article-Type of This Article
Opinion Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jun 20, 2026 (publication date) through Apr 23, 2026
Times Cited of This Article
Times Cited (0)
Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Methodology
ISSN
2222-0682
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Share the Article
Ibrahim Y, Qureshi A, Jackson M, Zovich B, Freeland C, Flomo M, Alik K, Yakubov R, Chen LH, Yeboah PK, Cohen C. Why does hepatitis B remain underprioritized? A view through lived experience. World J Methodol 2026; 16(2): 114604 [DOI: 10.5662/wjm.v16.i2.114604]
Yasmin Ibrahim, Anousha Qureshi, Michaela Jackson, Beatrice Zovich, Catherine Freeland, Monue Flomo, Kenson Alik, Ravshan Yakubov, Li-Hui Chen, Philip Kwame Yeboah, Chari Cohen, Hepatitis B Foundation, Doylestown, PA 18902, United States
Author contributions: Ibrahim Y, Jackson M, and Qureshi A conceptualized and designed the manuscript, and wrote the original draft of the manuscript; Zovich B, Freeland C and Cohen C conceptualized the manuscript and reviewed and edited the manuscript draft; Flomo M, Alik K, Yakubov R, Chen LH, Yeboah PK reviewed and edited the manuscript draft.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Yasmin Ibrahim, MD, Associate Professor, Director, Principal Investigator, Senior Researcher, Hepatitis B Foundation, 3805 Old Easton Road, Doylestown, PA 18902, United States. yasmin.ibrahim@hepb.org
Received: September 24, 2025 Revised: October 30, 2025 Accepted: December 8, 2025 Published online: June 20, 2026 Processing time: 211 Days and 20.6 Hours
Abstract
Nearly 259 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B globally, with just 7 million of them receiving life-saving treatment. In 2022, 83% of all viral hepatitis deaths were attributed to hepatitis B. Despite the availability of effective vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments, hepatitis B continues to be underprioritized on the global health agenda. Stigma and discrimination have been pervasive and entrenched in numerous countries, resulting in economic and social setbacks for people living with hepatitis B. Through the personal stories of several individuals living with hepatitis B worldwide, this article explores the question: Why does hepatitis B remain underprioritized? It walks through the roadblocks hindering the progress towards hepatitis B elimination efforts and draws lessons from other diseases - such as human immunodeficiency virus, coronavirus disease 2019, and Ebola, where advocacy, political commitment, and sustained funding led to meaningful progress in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. This evidence-backed perspective is based on decades-long efforts of the Hepatitis B Foundation, collaborating with international partners to prevent new infections, documenting the lived experiences of those living with hepatitis B and supporting them, and advocating for better care and policies affecting those impacted by the disease. Beyond identifying persistent challenges to eliminating hepatitis B, the article succinctly issues a call to action for greater investment, cross-sector collaboration, integration of disease programs to improve efficiency, and inclusion of patient-reported outcomes in hepatitis B management and evaluation, to better support those living with hepatitis B.
Core Tip: The article explores why chronic hepatitis B infection, despite affecting 259 million people globally, remains underprioritized. Only 3% of those infected receive treatment, and stigma, discrimination, and systemic neglect persist. Through lived experiences of people with hepatitis B worldwide, this article explores barriers to progress-such as marginalization of impacted population and inequitable funding among others, and draws lessons from human immunodeficiency virus, coronavirus disease 2019, and Ebola, where advocacy, political will, and investment drove change. It calls for stronger collaboration, greater investment in care and prevention, integration of disease programs, and inclusion of patient-reported outcomes to accelerate elimination and improve the lives of people living with hepatitis B.
